Commonwealth Cup runneth over with Hokie victories

CHARLOTTESVILLE — If the speculation is true, Virginia coach Al Groh lost to Virginia Tech for the last time Saturday.

The Hokies fans at Scott Stadium seemed to be the only ones affected by that possibility.

No. 14 Tech beat UVa for the eighth time in Groh’s nine-year tenure as the Cavaliers’ skipper, scoring 28 unanswered points in the second half in an eventual 42-13 thumping.

Before the final whistle sounded, the massive contingent of Tech fans on hand were heard mockingly chanting “Let Al stay,” and “Keep Al Groh.” After shaking hands with Hokies coach Frank Beamer, Groh made an unceremonious exit through the tunnel to his team’s locker room.

Most of UVa’s fans had already filed for the exits.

Meanwhile on the other side of the stadium, Tech’s players celebrated with their raucous cheering section. Quarterback Tyrod Taylor, offensive lineman Vinston Painter and rover Davon Morgan disappeared into the crowd, receiving hugs and well wishes.

Free safety Kam Chancellor, who is part of the second straight Tech senior class to finish a perfect 4-0 against the Wahoos, kneeled down in the end zone to tear up some turf to add to the collection in the Hokies’ famed lunch pail.

All the Tech players and their faithful followers were in the mood to celebrate, and for good reason.

“You don’t want to lose to these guys and have that bad taste in your mouth,” Hokies senior linebacker Cody Grimm said. “You’ve got to come out and get the win and send the seniors out on the right note and get ready for the bowl game.”

Tech’s domination in the in-state series against UVa was one of the major reasons for Groh’s demise.

It’s unfortunate it might cost Groh his job, but the Hokies aren’t apologizing for their recent run of success.

The Hokies (9-3, 6-2 ACC) have now won six straight, tying their longest win streak in the series, and 10 of their last 11 games against the Cavaliers (3-9, 2-6).

“I mean, somebody’s got to win and somebody’s got to lose, and I’d rather be on that winning side,” said Tech sophomore wide receiver Danny Coale.

Tech’s latest blowout win over UVa was Groh’s second-worst in the series, trailing only the Hokies’ 52-14 victory in 2005, which also came on the Hoos’ home field.

“I feel very badly for the senior players in particular who shared some very moving testimony with their teammates (Friday) about what this program has meant to them and about what this game has meant to them,” Groh said. “I feel badly that we couldn’t do a little bit more for them today.”

One player who was new to the rivalry was Hokies redshirt freshman tailback Ryan Williams, but he contributed to series lore with a career-high 183 rushing yards and four touchdowns.

He improved his ACC freshman record rushing total to 1,538 yards, and he set a new ACC freshman record for touchdowns with 20. The only records left for him to break are the Tech single-season rushing mark (1,647 yards by Kevin Jones in 2003) and the school scoring mark (28 touchdowns by Lee Suggs in 2000).

Williams, who scored four touchdowns last week against N.C. State, became just the second Tech player to score four or more touchdowns in consecutive games (Suggs in 2000).

He didn’t realize just how intense the Virginia Tech-Virginia rivalry was until he finally experienced it.

“Riding down here, I saw the hand signals,” Williams said. “I saw all those obvious hand signals, and I kind of knew how intense it was. … It was a lot of shoving going on after plays and a lot of late hits, tackles into the ground and grappling up. It was intense.”

Williams, who played high school ball in Manassas was one of two home-state players to have offensive breakouts against the Cavaliers. The other was Coale, who grew up a Virginia fan in Lexington and was recruited by the Cavaliers to play both lacrosse and football.

Coale had a career high 135 receiving yards and tied his career high with six receptions.

He had first-half catches of 42, 36 and 16 yards — all against 2008 second-team All-ACC cornerback Ras-I Dowling — and he had a shoestring grab in the fourth quarter that he hauled in while dragging a foot inbounds.

“We just wanted to go downtown and make plays,” Coale said.

Tech gained 483 total yards — the second time it’s hung up 480 in its last three games — and had 298 rushing yards, its second-highest total in an ACC game behind the 333 it rolled up against Virginia in 2005.

Even with all the offensive fireworks, it was a defensive play in the third quarter that seemed to turn the game in Tech’s favor.

One snap after Chancellor knocked Virginia running back Mikell Simpson backward on a draw play, Simpson couldn’t field a high option pitch from UVa quarterback Jameel Sewell. Chancellor recovered the fumble and returned it 15 yards to the Virginia 10.

Two plays later, Williams was in the end zone and the Hokies had a 21-13 lead with 5:51 left in the third.

Chancellor said he could tell Simpson had the previous hit running through his mind when he failed to field the pitch.

“He took his eyes off the pitch, and that kind of messed him up a little bit,” Chancellor said. “It threw him off, and he dropped the ball.”

The Cavaliers seemed to crumble after the fumble. From that point on, Tech ran off 27 plays for 200 yards and three touchdowns. Conversely, UVa ran 18 plays for 57 yards and no scores.

Before halftime, Virginia had Tech’s defense reeling. Sewell rushed for 99 of his 104 rushing yards in the first two quarters. His runs caught the Hokies, who held a tenuous 14-13 lead at the break, off guard a little bit.

“We came out really strong because we knew we could beat them,” Sewell said. “We pounded them, and they were not ready for what we were bringing to the table. Then we faltered, we slowed down, and that hurt us.

“But we never quit fighting, and that is what I love about my guys.”

Grimm said Tech employed some different blitz packages in the second half and also mixed up its coverages to counter what Sewell and the Cavaliers were doing.

“They ran some things we weren’t used to, and (defensive coordinator) Bud Foster made some great adjustments at halftime, and you saw it in the outcome,” Grimm said.

It was a very familiar outcome to Tech and its fans, who now wait to find out their bowl destination, which is expected to be announced next Sunday.

“Any time you end your season with a win against your rival, it is a pretty big deal,” Grimm said, “and we are excited about it.”